Why Draymond dubs Klay’s No. 31 Mavericks jersey as ‘disgusting’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Draymond Green is not a fan of Klay Thompson’s new jersey number with the Dallas Mavericks.
At all.
“It’s disgusting,” Draymond Green said on the “Club 520 Podcast.” “Somebody said to me, like, ‘Yo, [No.] 31, that’s Reggie Miller’s number.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but he’s Klay Thompson.’”
With new Mavericks teammate Kyrie Irving already claiming the No. 11 that Thompson wore with the Warriors, the four-time NBA champion was put in a position to elect a new number.
And Thompson not only picked a number sported by Miller, but also by his and Green’s former teammate Festus Ezeli, who tried to defend Dallas’ blockbuster signing for his jersey number selection.
“And then Festus Ezeli wore [No.] 31, and, like, Festus tried to go at me on Instagram,” Green added. “Like, ‘What’s wrong with [No.] 31?’”
To which Green responded.
“‘You wore it! What do you mean?”
Starting their respective NBA journeys together and winning a championship together years later in 2015, Green and Ezeli know one another well.
But that didn’t stop Green from taking a hilarious shot at his former teammate and friend for attempting to defend the No. 31 jersey.
“Listen, I love Fez,” Green said. “We won a championship together. We were drafted together. But if you wore the number, Klay probably shouldn’t wear the number.”
And as much as he was trying to make a point, perhaps Ezeli shouldn’t have told Green about him wearing Michael Jordan’s No. 23.
“He’s like, ‘Well, you wear [Michael Jordan’s] 23,” Green said. “And quite frankly Fez, MJ is top two ever in the NBA’s history.
“He’s top two. The gap between Michael Jordan and me is far smaller than the gap between Klay Thompson and Festus Ezeli.
“And I’m not top 100, but the gap between us two and the gap between Festus Ezeli and Klay Thompson …
“MJ is MJ. The gap between me and him and Klay and Festus is like the size of the Empire State Building.”
Although it was good-natured banter from the Warriors star forward, Green continued to rain down on his former teammate.
“Big man with bad hands,” Green concluded. “That’s what’s wrong with 31. I love you Fez, but you had to get it because there was no point in you commenting and telling me, ‘What’s wrong with 31?’
“Look at Klay and 31! Get No. 1! Get No. 10! Kyrie got 11. Cool, I get that, no problem. 31?”
With the reservations out of the way, No. 31 it is, Green.
NBC Sports BayArea
